AIMS Neuropilins 1 and 2 (NRP1 and NRP2) play crucial roles in endothelial cell migration contributing to angiogenesis and vascular development. Both NRPs are also expressed by cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and are implicated in VSMC migration stimulated by PDGF-BB, but it is unknown whether NRPs are relevant for VSMC function in vivo. We investigated the role of NRPs in the rat...

Wang et al. (1) report on the cataloging and phylogenetic analysis of gene clusters that encode nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) and type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) in sequenced genomes from all three domains of life. We read this article with great interest. However, a few points require a more detailed discussion, and we would like to highlight some complementary analyses previousl...

Phosphopantetheinyltransferase (PPTase) enzymes fulfil essential roles in primary and secondary metabolism in prokaryotes, archaea and eukaryotes. PPTase enzymes catalyse the essential modification of the carrier protein domain of fatty acid synthases, polyketide synthases (PKSs) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). In bacteria and fungi, NRPS and PKS enzymes are often responsible for...

The C-terminal thioesterase (TE) domains from nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) catalyze the final step in the biosynthesis of diverse biologically active molecules. In many systems, the thioesterase domain is involved in macrocyclization of a linear precursor presented as an acyl-S-enzyme intermediate. The excised thioesterase domain from the tyrocidine NRPS has been shown to catalyze t...

tised and a new system of governance. Of the three key changes advocated in the Kok report, only National Reform Programmes (NRPs) drawn up by the member states made it off the drawing board. The proposals to provide appropriate EU funding to support the Lisbon goals, and “name and shame” poor performing member states were rejected. The driving force of Lisbon 2 is thus national “ownership” of ...

Streptomyces sp. MWW064 (=NBRC 110611) produces an antitumor cyclic depsipeptide rakicidin D. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of this strain together with features of the organism and generation, annotation and analysis of the genome sequence. The 7.9 Mb genome of Streptomyces sp. MWW064 encoded 7,135 putative ORFs, of which 6,044 were assigned with COG categories. The genome harbored...

Natural product discovery efforts have focused primarily on microbial biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) containing large multimodular polyketide synthases and nonribosomal peptide synthetases; however, sequencing of fungal genomes has revealed a vast number of BGCs containing smaller NRPS-like genes of unknown biosynthetic function. Using comparative metabolomics, we show that a BGC in the huma...

After years of inadequate use and the emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) strains, the efficiency of "classical" antibiotics has decreased significantly. New drugs to fight MDR strains are urgently needed. Bacteria hold much promise as a source of unusual bioactive metabolites. However, the potential of marine bacteria, except for Actinomycetes and Cyanobacteria, has been largely underexplor...

INTRODUCTION Residents and faculty in emergency medicine (EM) residency programs might be unaware of the professional and legal risks associated with the use of social media (SM). The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the types and reported incidence of unprofessional SM behavior by EM residents, faculty, and nurses and the concomitant personal and institutional risks. ...